The Negros Occidental Provincial Planning and Development Officer (PPDO) has filed a complaint against Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for alleged violation of the Omnibus Election Code.
She filed the complaint before the Comelec Law Department on April 5 and separate raps against Lacson before the Civil Service Commission on April 1, Ma. Lina P. Sanogal, said on Wednesday, April 20.
Sanogal, incumbent PPDO, in her complaint affidavit before the Comelec Law Department, said Lacson and Diaz violated Article 261 of the Omnibus Election Code and Section 11 of the Commission’s Resolution No. 10742 promulgated on Dec. 16, 2021.
She said Section 261 of the Omnibus Election states that it is an election offense for any public official to transfer or detail any officer or employee in the civil service within the election period except upon prior approval of the Commission.
Section 11 of Comelec Resolution No. 10742 states that the period of prohibition is from January 9 to June 8, 2022, Sanogal said.
Section 11 also states that the phrase “transfer or detail” shall be construed in general terms. Any movement of personnel from one station to another, whether or not in the same office or agency, during the election is covered by the prohibition, she pointed out.
On March 15 within the prohibition period Lacson and Diaz caused the issuance of Office Order No. 03-15-0104, Series of 2022 reassigning her to the Office of the Governor to attend to special administrative concerns effective immediately, Sanogal said.
She was also directed to report to Diaz for the effective implementation of the order, she added.
The office order does not contain any statement or attachment that a prior approval by the Comelec had been secured by the respondents, Sanogal said.
She also said on March 15, and within the prohibited period, Lacson and Diaz, caused the issuance of Office Order No. 03-15-0105, Series of 2022 designating Anna Marie G. Lucasan, PPDO officer-in-charge, effective immediately.
Sanogal said because of such actions Lacson and Diaz should be held liable for violating Sec. 261 (g) of the Omnibus Election Code and Section 11 of Comelec Resolution No. 10742.
Sanogal also filed a complaint against Lacson before the Civil Service Commission Regional Office 6 for alleged constructive dismissal.
The complaint said Sanogal has not reported to her reassigned station, the Office of the Governor, as she feels demeaned and humiliated with the whimsical act of Lacson in assigning her – a department head performing managerial and technical functions – to perform the menial task of attending to the “special administrative concerns of the office”.
She said it is tantamount to putting her on a “floating status”.
Sanogal will attain 31 years of service in the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental this year, and has five more years before reaching the age for mandatory retirement.
The complaint said Sanogal, who holds a Career Executive Service Eligibility, believes she, as any other career professional in the bureaucracy, deserves to be insulated from what appears to be witch-hunting that followed the change in the provincial administration.
Sanogal said the terms for her being replaced by an OIC were not carried out.
Diaz said Sanogal betrayed their agreement. She was transferred to the Office of the Governor so she could prepare her papers and complete the requirements for her retirement and she agreed to it, he said.
Sanogal had indicated that she was retiring in the end of October and the agreement was that she would receive the same compensation in the period leading to the date, he said.
It is a necessary that the PPDO is immediately headed by someone who could stay for three more years to carry out the three-year development that plan of the province that is currently being drafted, he also said.
The provincial government had filed a petition for Comelec exemption for the transfer, Diaz also said.*